Easy Mini Shepherd’s Pies Recipe

Mini Shepherd’s Pies

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Individual mini shepherd’s pies are ideal for serving family or entertaining guests for St. Patrick’s day or an Irish themed dinner party.

This recipe is comfort food at its best, and it’s full of flavor. That makes it perfect to add to a fall or winter dinner party menu.

Make these in mini baking dishes for individual servings, or put the ingredients into a baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes.

What You’ll Love About This Recipe

Other than the delicious combination of ingredients and the ease of putting it together, here are some more reasons to make mini cottage pies.

• Double the recipe to make enough for 6 or 8 people.
• Make it in single servings or in a large casserole.
• Use ground beef or lamb.
• This recipe uses shortcuts to save time, like refrigerated prepared mashed potatoes and frozen vegetables.
• You can assemble it ahead and bake it when ready.

What is Shepherd’s Pie?

Traditional shepherd’s pie gets its origins from the UK and Ireland, and is made with ground lamb or mutton. A topping of mashed potatoes is standard but the additional flavorings can vary from recipe to recipe. So to be precise these are actually “cottage pies” since they’re made with ground beef.

Key Ingredients & Tips

• Ground Meat. Ground lamb is used in the traditional Irish recipe, but we mostly use ground beef, which is technically a cottage pie.
• Carrots and Peas. I use a bag of frozen carrots and peas mix, but you can buy them separately too. Make sure they are mostly thawed so they cook up tender in the dish. They will partially cook in the skillet with the meat, and again in the oven, but that’s not enough time for them to fully soften if used frozen.
• Beefy Mushroom Soup. This is a great shortcut ingredient that adds flavor and saves time.
• Mashed Potatoes. Here’s where you can save lots of time and effort! Use a container of refrigerated real mashed potatoes. I like the Bob Evans brand. They taste like homemade and you get about 2 1/2 cups worth.

How to Make It

1. Thaw – Let the frozen vegetables thaw in the refrigerator over night, or in the microwave according to package directions.
2. Brown – Cook the onions and ground meat in a skillet until it’s cooked through and no longer pink. You’ll add some salt to season the meat while it cooks because ground meat can be very bland otherwise.
3. Combine – Add the remaining filling ingredients and cook together.
4. Assemble – Divide the filling mixture into four baking dishes, then spread a layer of mashed potatoes on top. TIP: Use a large spoon to dollop potatoes on top and then gently spread the potatoes together. This way you don’t disturb the filling underneath.
5. Bake – Bake in the oven until cooked through, about 20 minutes for individual servings.

EXPERT TIP: Add everything to a large casserole dish instead of mini sizes, and increase baking time to 30 minutes.

Easy Dinner Party Menu

Make these for a themed dinner party for St. Patrick’s day, and include an Irish beer like Guinness to wash it down.

• Welcome guests with a St. Patrick’s day cocktail while waiting for dinner to cook.
• Serve mini shepherd’s pies with crusty bread or Irish soda bread, and a green and orange salad.
• Round out the meal with another vegetable like roasted broccoli or sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon.
• For dessert, serve a rustic apple galette or berry galette in keeping with the Irish theme.